Virginia Law

Article 13. Disposition of Assets.

Unless the articles of incorporation otherwise provide, no approval of the shareholders of a corporation is required:

1. To sell, lease, exchange, or otherwise dispose of any or all of the corporation's assets in the usual and regular course of business;

2. To mortgage, pledge, dedicate to the repayment of indebtedness, whether with or without recourse, or otherwise encumber any or all of the corporation's assets, whether or not in the usual and regular course of business;

3. To transfer any or all of the corporation's assets to one or more domestic or foreign corporations or eligible entities all the shares or interests of which are owned by the corporation; or

4. To distribute assets pro rata to the holders of one or more classes or series of the corporation's shares.

Code 1950, §§ 13-83, 13-84, 13.1-77; 1954, c. 499; 1956, c. 428; 1968, c. 109; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 117; 1975, c. 500; 1985, c. 522; 1994, c. 710; 2003, c. 728; 2005, c. 765; 2019, c. 734.

A. A sale, lease, exchange or other disposition of the corporation's assets, other than a disposition described in § 13.1-723, requires approval of the corporation's shareholders if the disposition would leave the corporation without a significant continuing business activity. The corporation will conclusively be deemed to have retained a significant continuing business activity if it retains a business activity that represented, for the corporation and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis, (i) at least 20 percent of total assets at the end of the most recently completed fiscal year, and (ii) at least 20 percent of either (a) income from continuing operations before taxes or (b) revenues from continuing operations, in each case for the most recently completed fiscal year.

B. A disposition that requires approval of the shareholders under subsection A shall be initiated by adoption of a resolution by the board of directors authorizing the disposition. After adoption of such a resolution, the board of directors shall submit the proposed disposition to the shareholders for their approval. The board of directors shall also submit to the shareholders a recommendation that the shareholders approve the proposed disposition, unless the board of directors makes a determination that because of conflicts of interest or other special circumstances it should not make such a recommendation, in which case the board of directors shall inform the shareholders of the basis for that determination.

C. The board of directors may set conditions for the approval of a disposition by the shareholders or the effectiveness of the disposition.

D. If a disposition is required to be approved by the shareholders and if the approval is to be sought at a shareholders' meeting, the corporation shall notify each shareholder, whether or not entitled to vote, of the shareholders' meeting at which the disposition is to be submitted for approval in accordance with § 13.1-658. The notice shall also state that the purpose, or one of the purposes, of the meeting is to consider the disposition and shall contain or be accompanied by a copy or summary of the agreement pursuant to which the disposition will be effected. If only a summary of the agreement is sent to shareholders, the corporation also shall send a copy of the agreement to any shareholder who requests it.

E. Unless the articles of incorporation or board of directors, acting pursuant to subsection C, requires a greater vote or a greater quorum, the approval of a disposition by the shareholders shall require at a meeting at which a quorum exists the approval of the holders of more than two-thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the disposition. The articles of incorporation may provide for a greater or lesser vote than that provided for in this subsection or a vote by separate voting groups so long as the vote provided for is not less than a majority of all the votes cast on the disposition by each voting group entitled to vote on the disposition at a meeting at which a quorum of the voting group exists.

F. Unless the parties to the disposition have agreed otherwise, after a disposition has been approved by the shareholders, and at any time before the disposition has been consummated, it may be abandoned without action by the shareholders, subject to any contractual rights of the parties to the disposition.

G. A disposition of assets in the course of dissolution under Article 16 (§ 13.1-742 et seq.) is not governed by this section.

H. The assets of a direct or indirect consolidated subsidiary shall be deemed to be the assets of the parent corporation for the purposes of this section.

I. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no corporation organized to conduct the business of a railroad or other public service or a banking business, or a savings institution, an industrial loan association or a credit union may sell, lease or exchange its properties for the conduct of such business in the Commonwealth except to a corporation of the Commonwealth organized for the same purpose or in the case of a bank to a savings and loan association or a corporation of the United States, and in the case of a savings and loan association to a bank or a corporation of the United States.

Code 1950, §§ 13-83, 13-84, 13.1-77; 1954, c. 499; 1956, c. 428; 1968, c. 109; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 117; 1975, c. 500; 1985, c. 522; 1987, c. 181; 1996, c. 77; 2005, c. 765; 2019, c. 734.